There are rumours that Bhanu Choudhrie has teamed up with the Dubai Royal Family though his family?s investment company C&C Alpha Group, to look at buying Pontins holiday camp chain for up to �15 million.He is reported to have examined the business six months ago, after Pontin?s chief executive Ian Smith looked for potential investors, however Choudhrie walked away from a potential deal, despite spending �100,000 on due diligence, he said.Choudhrie has said he would want to keep the management team in place and expand the business.It comes after it emerged that bad publicity about the chain?s holiday camps by a BBC Watchdog documentary was one of the factor?s which led to the� company?s collapse.Undercover reporters told of poor standards of cleanliness, broken furniture and peeling linoleum.Jane Moriarty, the KPMG administrator said Pontin?s had also suffered from tough competition with Butlins for the ?staycation? market.?Butlins run a really tight ship. If you get a lot of people chasing the same pounds, you get winners and losers,? she told the Observer. ?Commentary in the press hasn?t helped ? the Watchdog programme didn?t help.?KPMG has pledged to keep all five sites in Somerset, Sussex, Suffolk, Wales and Merseyside running. It has pledged to honour all bookings, and it is understood a leisure operator will be appointed this week to help KPMG run the business.TTG
15 November 2010
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